"She smiles like a child with flowers in her hair. With blood on her hands, into the sun she stares. She feels it die, I heard her cry."

Welcome in the world of Acid Bath. A sick and violent world, where serial killers roam the streets and drugs are an absolute necessity to escape the vile state of mind so often called "reality". This five-headed monster is violent, depressed, pissed-off, drunk, on acid, raging, insane, dead and rotting, and all at the same time. "When The Kite String Pops" is their message to the world.

"I have fallen deep in love with the sky. Fragments of a sunbeam glaring on a kitchen knife."

Combining themes such as death, drugs, doom and humor with the thoughts of a serial-killer/pedophile/suicidal maniac, their lyrics turned out twisted, dark but also with a surprising touch to them. Sometimes they are even funny, in an absurd sense. Soon after listen to this album a few times you'll find yourself singing "we smoke the bones of baby dolls" over and over again.

"She screams bloody murder as they chop off her fingers...
So this is how it feels to die."

Such lyrics demand equally vile music. And damn, they have done it like none other. Their Sabbath worship is soaked in Southern Rock and perversion, becoming one of the first so-called "Sludge Metal" bands: ultra-heavy doom with a lot of groove and extreme vocals. Where Eyehategod were a lot more extreme, Acid Bath made up for this with pure catchiness and groove. Once you are used to the sound, you will want to hear it over and over again.

"Hearts will stop and brain cells pop.
Apocalyptic high."

Dax Riggs is one hell of a vocalist, and absolutely perfect for this band and genre. His screeches are penetrating, while his clean vocals are sad yet twisted. Together with the stomping riffs and distortion he can be straight-out brutal. Who does not love the first massive punch in the gut from "The Blue": "Across your face!"? On the two (sort of) ballads"Scream Of The Butterfly" and "The Bones Of Baby Dolls" he really shines, with his beautiful, emotive wails. Singing his morbid stories about murder and suicide, he evokes a special sort of dark ecstacy, a dangerous form of energy in which the subject first reaches a deep low, before rising up with a fucked up, "fuck the world we're going to take drugs and get drunk and whoever is dead last is a pussy!"-attitude. Everybody that is familiar with the stomping, repetitive violence of an inescapable depression feels exactly like that every once in a while, and this album is a perfect way to give that a jumpstart.

"We're all gonna die tomorrow.
The freaks are screaming burn it down.
She can't feel the weather.
I can't touch the ground."

A bit of criticism is also in its place. For one, the album is pretty long and in my opinion they should have left two or three tracks out. That being said, there are no real fillers on "When The Kite String Pops". Some songs are obviously better than others, but every song has its own replay value. I really would not be the one who has to decide which songs to remove, anyway. Acid Bath sucks you into their filthy little world and does not let go. Give it a few tries and you will find it is as addictive as heroin, as maddening as a bad drop of acid, and cool as fuck!

Btw what I love about When The Kite String Pops is that the cover artwork was doen by one of our favourite serial killers John Wayne Gacy.

Yeah I could have mentioned so much more, about the cover art, but I was also thinking about a reference to Bukowski (writer). I was a little limited by the wordcount, but then again, humongous reviews are usually annoying.

And that review of PTA is probbaly coming up, as I intend on buying it soon.

Oooooo!!!
You don't have any idea of how much I wanted this review!!!
And it feels very good that you put a great job [I know that there's a LOT to tell about the album and the band... but the review is still well done ]

And about the album. I think it changed me in a way... I didn't stop listening to it after the very first time that was like many months ago.
The lyrics are teryfic yet beautiful [the best being "Scream of the Butterfly" IMO]
And about the vocals... couldn't get any better. Both brutal and "sweet" The clean ones really impressed me... So sad and crazy. If I didn't know any english I would think that "Scream..." was some kind of love-song but the lyrics were so twisted that I just felt in love with them. I think I almost cried with the two ballads from this album...

The music is really heavy and disturbing... specially Jezebel and Dr. Seuss [Just hear the fucking chorus of this song... such a crazy one!]
There isn't any kind of filler on this cd IMO...

Damm... I said a lot. But I couldn't resist... I'm such a fanboy of this band and I really want the two cds but I'm out of money right now. And it's difficult for me to buy from the internet since I don't have a bank account. But I will get those cds.. no matter what.

One more time... awesome review and I'm waiting the next one

PS:
And about wich album is better... Both are awesome, but I feel more touched by this one, so I think this one is better... My rating is 9,8 [I would give it a 10, but I don't believe in perfection by any means...]

Oooooo!!!
You don't have any idea of how much I wanted this review!!!
And it feels very good that you put a great job [I know that there's a LOT to tell about the album and the band... but the review is still well done ]

Thanks. And next time you want a review, just ask. I have but few "official" reviews atm, so I am going through my collection once again for review material. I'll probably do quite a few slduge/doom albums the coming weeks.
And thanks again for the kind words.

Great review for a great album.
When the Kite String Pops is something that has remained a long time favorite for me. It's just overwhelming... the heavy and catchy guitarwork, the dark sickening atmosphere, the themes, the lyrics and the vocals. It's just fantastic.
As for the literature connection, I'd personally connect the lyrics more with the hallucinatory imagery of Burroughs (with the dark humour, dirty needles and grotesque sex everywhere) than Bukowski.

There are few and i mean very few albumns that are perfect all the way through and doesnt have a single song you want to skip. This album comes very close in my oppinion. While i do enjoy every song, there are two or three the albumn could have done without simply because they do not meet the standands of the other songs. The length of the album is not an issue for me personally. I believe that the description of the band is summed up well and agree that a review of Paegan Terrorism Tactics is a good idea.

There are few and i mean very few albumns that are perfect all the way through and doesnt have a single song you want to skip. This album comes very close in my oppinion. While i do enjoy every song, there are two or three the albumn could have done without simply because they do not meet the standands of the other songs. The length of the album is not an issue for me personally. I believe that the description of the band is summed up well and agree that a review of Paegan Terrorism Tactics is a good idea.

Imo those songs would probably be Cheap Vodka, Dope Fiend and What Color is death?

But even those songs have really memorable moments! I sicnerely find the tracklist to be perfect. Not a single weak track, some are stronger than others but there's nothing thst can be called filler at all.

I am trying to work on a PTT review, but I gotta tell ya that my opinion of that album aren't as high as this one. Standing alone or comparing it to other sludge bands PTT is brilliant, but it falls short against WTKSP. But that's of course my opinion. I just think this album has a more brilliant songwriting and far more extreme atmosphere. Also the production is better on the debut imo, way more abrasive and morbid as it should be

Oh, I can't stress this enough. Acid Bath has the most quotable lyrics ever, they are fantastic.
We're meat... and that's it. so let's fuck it, fuck it, FUCK IT.

I have only listened to a few tracks off of PTT and they hadn't impressed me the way Kite String did, but i plan to get a copy when i get Amon Amarth's Surtur Rising sometime soon. I do quote their lyrics alot myself so i agree with what you say but What color is death is one of my favorites...I'd say Cheap Vodka, Dope fiend, and Toubabo Koomi. Thats just my oppinion. Dax Riggs recently played near me but im not 18 yet so i couldnt get in. It was quite disappointing.

Heh, we are pretty close in the song selection I was thinking either dope fiend or toubabo Koomi and decided for the first one. But still those 4 songs are awesome. That's the good thing of the debut, there's no real filler imo... Just... too much of the good stuff

Heh, we are pretty close in the song selection I was thinking either dope fiend or toubabo Koomi and decided for the first one. But still those 4 songs are awesome. That's the good thing of the debut, there's no real filler imo... Just... too much of the good stuff

I got PTT a few days ago and have been listening to it alot. They focused on a different sort of sound while keeping their style. Venus Blue is really grungy. I really like a lot of the tracks but it really doesnt compare to Kite String.

I got PTT a few days ago and have been listening to it alot. They focused on a different sort of sound while keeping their style. Venus Blue is really grungy. I really like a lot of the tracks but it really doesnt compare to Kite String.

Yeah of course... Standing on its own PTT is really a great album. Venus Blue is one of my favorite, really catchy song with awesome lyrics but daaaaaang man it's impossible NOT TO compare it to the masterpiece that is WTKSP...

Kinda funny how one can make the music seem catchy just by adding it some cool words. I think it's usually the other way round. This time... well, if I hadn't misheard the lyrics of one of the songs, I'm not sure I would have paid extra attention to this album. It does not appeal to me musically, but I gotta admit - the lyrics are awesome. In fact, they're quite sunny.

Well I wouldn't say that about most of their lyrics but songs like "Tranquilized" or the morbid yet extremely beautiful Scream Of The Butterfly do have a nice vibe in their lyrics. It just adds even more to the special atmosphere from this cd.

Hahaha, we both suck. I already counted in how many songs the word 'sky' appears (seemed a lot too and I'm damn curious just about everything). Turned out they're only 5. And yeah, I realized the album gets less sunny as it goes on (I'm currently listening to it & reading lyrics). Too bad, but I guess I'm fine with blood and 'murder of love' as well.

Well I wouldn't say that about most of their lyrics but songs like "Tranquilized" or the morbid yet extremely beautiful Scream Of The Butterfly do have a nice vibe in their lyrics. It just adds even more to the special atmosphere from this cd.

I find that PTA is a far better album. Production of this album is also quite lacklustre.

I prefer this one miles to their second record. Especially the production, this one is just so raw and heavy unlike the second one which feels a bit polished to me.

Strongly agree with you. The production here is perfect. Right in your face and crunchy with the rawer and violent moments. It also gives a very nice sund to the acoustic songs.
I love the second album too but the production is THIN. I mean... Really thin in comparison to this album. It feels quite dry.